The Fangirl Files Adventure 2: The Case of the Dimension
by numba1fangirl
Summary: Maria is a dimension hopper which means she can jump between the dimensions and thus visit different fandoms. This is her adventures in the Sherlock universe. THIS FIC IS PART OF A SERIES! Previous Fic: The Fangirl Files Adventure 1: Hostiles at Hogwarts (Harry Potter) Next Fic: The Fangirl Files Adventure 3: A Supernatural Encounter (Supernatural)
1. Chapter 1: The Observant Detective

Chapter 1: The Observant Detective

Maria found herself on the pavement on a busy London street. She could tell it was London because she could see Big Ben in the distance. At least she was somewhere familiar. A version of London had been in both of the last two dimensions she'd been to.

Looking down, she saw that there was a note in her hand and she smiled. She didn't know how, but sometimes when she hopped dimensions she ended up with a note of some kind that told her where to go. It was how she'd known to get on the Hogwarts Express in the Wizard Dimension. Only that time it had been a train ticket instead of a note.

She unfolded the paper and sure enough, in her own messy handwriting, was this message:

Sherlock Holmes  
& John Watson  
221B Baker St.  
London, England

She folded the note back up and put it in her pocket, then looked around for Thatcher. Now that they were in a new dimension, he would most likely no longer be an owl.

"Thatcher!" Maria called. A few seconds later a blood hound trotted out from an alley. On his collar was the star shaped charm that Maria used to recognize Thatcher. "There you are! I have an address. Let's go."

Maria walked up the street, looking around for a taxi. Several times she almost tripped and fell on her face because she was still getting used to her body.

In this dimension, she was no longer eleven. After looking at her reflection in a shop window, she figured she was probably twenty-eight or twenty-nine. She still had the same brown hair, light blue eyes, and freckles, though. She was wearing a nice pair of jeans and a light blue button-up blouse that matched her eyes. Her trunk had transformed itself into a grey roller suitcase.

After a few more tries, she finally got a taxi to stop. She opened the door and climbed in with Thatcher. The driver didn't look happy to have a dog in his cab, but didn't protest.

"Where to?" he grunted.

"221B Baker Street," Maria replied. As the taxi pulled out onto the street and joined traffic, Maria looked out the windows nervously, making sure Jartho wasn't following them.

"Here we are," said the taxi driver as he pulled over to the side of the road.

"Thank you," said Maria, throwing some money over the seat before climbing out with Thatcher. There in front of them was a weather-beaten black door with gold lettering that read "221B". Maria stepped up to the door and rang the bell.

"Sherlock, the door!" she heard a small voice cry from somewhere within. "Sherlock!" A few moments later the door opened to reveal a little old lady with feathery blond hair and violin music started playing from somewhere in the flat.

"Hello!" she said in a cheery voice with a nervous glance at Thatcher. "Can I help you?"

"I'm here to see Sherlock Holmes and John Watson," Maria answered. "And don't worry. Thatcher's very gentle," she added, rubbing Thatcher between the ears.

"That's nice. Are you a client?" she asked.

"Yes," Maria answered, although she wasn't exactly sure what that meant.

"Just a moment, dear," she said with a smile before turning to call up the stairs. "Sherlock! You've got a client!"

The violin music paused for a moment.

"Yes, thank you Mrs. Hudson," replied a smooth, deep voice from somewhere up above. "Please send them up." The violin music started up again and the little old lady—who Maria now knew was called Mrs. Hudson—turned back to address her.

"They're just up the stairs, follow me," Mrs. Hudson told her. They walked up the stairs to find a cozy flat with books and clutter everywhere. There were two men in the room. One looked to be in his forties and seemed to be rather short, but it was hard for Maria to tell because he was sitting in an armchair and reading a paper which he folded up and set aside when they walked in the room. He was wearing a sweater and had light hair. The other man was tall and dark haired. He was standing by the window playing the violin when they walked in, but stopped as soon as he noticed them.

"Thank you Mrs. Hudson," he said in the same deep voice that had called down the stairs earlier. "Can you go and get us some tea?"

"I'm not your housekeeper," Mrs. Hudson replied as she walked to the kitchen and put a kettle on. Maria watched her walk over there and saw that the kitchen table was cluttered with lab equipment and several other odd things.

"Sherlock Holmes?" Maria asked, looking quizzically from one man to the other.

"That would be me," said the tall, dark haired man.

"Then you must be John Watson," she said to the other man.

"Yes, I am. Nice to meet you," he answered offering his hand for a shake. "And what is your name?"

"I'm Maria."

"Please sit down," John said politely, gesturing to an armchair. "Now if you'll please just explain the case to us and we'll see if we can help."

Maria sat down, but kept her eyes on Sherlock who was staring back at her with a strange expression on his face. Unsure what to say, Maria remained silent. She didn't know how much of the truth she should tell them.

"You're not from here," Sherlock said, breaking the silence. But it wasn't a question; it was a statement.

"No," Maria answered simply. She'd decided to answer questions truthfully for now.

"And that dog is more intelligent than an average animal."

"Yes."

"But there's something else about you," he continued, now beginning to pace back and forth in front of her. "It's like you're not just unused to your surroundings, you're also not used to your own body."

"What do you mean she's not used to her own body?" John asked, obviously confused.

Maria's heart pounded in her chest. Who was this man and how could he guess so much about her?

"You're getting nervous," Sherlock continued, ignoring John's comment and stopping his pacing so he could study her some more. "I must have deduced correctly. I can tell you're hiding something so you might as well say it seeing how if you don't I'll just figure it out on my own sooner or later, but most likely sooner rather than later.

"I guess I can trust you since I was directed here," Maria said hesitantly. "But you're not going to believe me."

"Try me," Sherlock said.

"Wait, wait, wait. Who directed you here?" John asked.

"Um…..I did? I don't know."

"How could you direct yourself here and how would you not know it if you did?" asked Sherlock.

"The answer to that question is not going to make any sense until I explain the rest of it," Maria replied. "But then again you're not going to think the rest of it makes any sense anyway."

Just then Mrs. Hudson came back in with the tea.

"Ah! Thank you Mrs. Hudson," Sherlock exclaimed, sitting down in the armchair across from Maria's and pouring himself some tea. "Feel free to help yourself and please do continue."

"Alright," Maria said as she poured herself some tea. And then she told them the whole story about Dalcina and dimension hopping. She told them about Kaibar and the rebellion. And finally she told them about Jartho and how she was on the run.

"Well, we certainly don't have time for this nonsense—" John began, rising from his chair to pour himself more tea. But Sherlock cut him off.

"She's not lying, John," he said quietly. He was leaning forward in his chair with his elbows on his knees and his palms pressed together under his nose. His multi-colored eyes were fixed on Maria's as if he were trying to read her mind.

"What?"

"She's breathing normally, her palms aren't sweaty, and she maintained eye contact with us through the entire story."

"So you believe me?" Maria asked incredulously.

"I believe you are either telling the truth or you're barking mad," he answered with a tone that almost sounded uninterested. "I'm leaning towards insanity though. It makes much more sense."

"I'm not insane," Maria said defiantly. "I'm not sure how I'm going to prove it, though."

"What about the chip?" Sherlock suggested. "Show us the chip and what's on it and we'll believe you."

"That's strictly classified."

"Then you better leave now before I have John call the mental hospital."

"Wait! I can't believe I didn't think of this before!" Maria exclaimed. She held out her right hand and pointed to a simple gold ring on her ring finger. "This is my age ring. You see, my age changes depending on what dimension I'm in, but I can manipulate it with this ring if I want to so I can better disguise myself or whatever. I hardly ever do it though because it takes so much power and there's usually no need for it. But I'll show you if it'll make you believe me."

Sherlock had a sort of amused smirk on his face. He didn't believe it would work. John on the other hand looked a bit exasperated. He clearly didn't think it was worth their time to listen to crazy people.

Maria twisted the ring and began to slowly age until she was nearly fifty years old. Then she began to twist the ring the other way, back down to her late twenties and then on further until she was a teenager. Finally she twisted the ring back the other way again until she was back to her late twenties where she had started.

"Do you believe me now?" she asked them.

Sherlock was looking at her with genuine curiosity. John's jaw had dropped and he had a look of stunned disbelief on his face.


	2. Chapter 2: The Case is On

Chapter 2: The Case is On

"Y-you," John stuttered. "You just—how did you—but—no, no, no this must be a trick!"

"It was no trick, John," Sherlock said quietly, still staring at Maria with burning curiosity.

"And how do you know that?"

"Because there's no way it could've been a trick, John. When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

John opened his mouth to say something and then thought better of it and closed it again. It was apparent that he knew he couldn't win an argument with Sherlock.

"I need your help," Maria pleaded. "The note wouldn't have directed me here if you couldn't help me. Unfortunately I don't know exactly _how_ you're supposed to help. What exactly is it that you do?"

"I am a consulting detective and John here is my assistant," replied Sherlock. "He also happens to be an ex-army doctor."

"A detective! That's perfect! If we can spot Jartho before he spots me, then we can get me safely into another dimension without him noticing!"

Sherlock smiled. "I do believe this will be one of our most interesting cases yet, John."

"I believe so, Sherlock," John replied.

"_One of_ your most interesting cases?" Maria repeated incredulously. "I'm a _dimension hopping alien_. How much more interesting can it get?"

"That's true, but all this case will involve is finding someone who is looking for you, so it won't be too difficult," said Sherlock. "It's not like the case involves any murders and Jartho is no Moriarty."

"Alright, well, how do we start?" Maria asked.

"Well first you need to tell me if Jartho has any identifying features."

"He has a crescent-shaped scar on his right cheek that almost looks like a bite mark, but it's not. And he has black or grey hair depending on how old he is. He also has brown eyes and crooked teeth."

"Good, good. Anything else? Any kind of characteristic behaviors? Any items he might be carrying around with him?"

"Well he's a very mean and nasty man, but other than that, I can't think of any identifying habits. But he would be carrying a dimension hopper around with him and it would look just like mine." Maria unzipped her suitcase and took out the small, round dimension hopper. She held it out to Sherlock who took it and began inspecting the Dalcinean writing around the edges. "I doubt he would take it out though."

"Is that all?" asked Sherlock, handing the dimension hopper back to her.

"Well, he'd have a gold aging ring like mine," Maria answered. "But I can't think of anything else."

"Alright well you've given me plenty to work with, so it's no matter."

"There's one more thing," Maria said hesitantly. "I'm going to need a place to stay and I don't have enough money for a hotel…"

"You can stay here if you wish. You can take John's room upstairs. John and I can share," said Sherlock, turning and smiling at John. John, however looked extremely embarrassed.

"Wait. You mean you weren't _already_ sharing?" asked Maria. She'd been certain that these two were a couple.

"No, um we're—we're not—" John stammered before giving up. Maria smiled. Even if they weren't _officially_ a couple, there was definitely something going on between them.

"We need to get started. I'll start with the homeless network. Give them the list of things to look for that Maria told me. The more eyes we have on the streets, the faster we'll find him. Come on, John."

"I'm coming, too," said Maria.

"No, you need to stay here," Sherlock insisted.

"But—"

"You are much better hidden if you stay in the flat. If you go out on the streets and he sees you then this whole thing is compromised. Are you willing to risk it?" Maria shook her head.

"That's what I thought. You stay here. Mrs. Hudson can keep you company." He grabbed a long black coat and put it on, then quickly tied a blue scarf around his neck before hurrying down the steps and out the door with John.


	3. Chapter 3: Breaking the Rules

Chapter 3: Breaking the Rules

Maria followed Mrs. Hudson up to John's room where she would be staying. After thanking her and setting down her suitcase, she began to look around. It was very cozy, but also a bit plain. The bedspread was grey and there weren't any pictures on the walls. There was, however, a picture of John and Sherlock propped up against the lamp on the night stand. Maria smiled. He could deny they were a couple all he wanted, but she would never believe him.

Thatcher jumped up on the bed and laid down next to her suitcase.

"Thatcher!" Maria scolded. "John's okay with me sleeping in his bed, but I don't think he wants a dog in it." Making his best sad face, Thatcher got off the bed and plopped down in a corner of the room.

"Would you like something to eat, dear?" asked Mrs. Hudson, poking her head in the doorway.

"No, thank you," Maria replied.

"Are you sure? I could whip something up for you."

"Yes, I'm sure. But thank you for asking."

"Alright then. Make yourself comfortable." She then retreated back downstairs, closing the door behind her.

Maria sighed and plopped down on the bed. Thatcher let out a whine of complaint that he wasn't allowed to do that too.

"I need to be doing something," Maria said. "I know it's safer for me to stay here, but I'd be able to give a better description of Jartho since I've actually _seen_ him. I want to go out and help them, but they're long gone by now. There's no way I'll be able to figure out where they went."

Maria looked over at Thatcher the bloodhound and an idea sprouted in her mind. It was so brilliant and so sudden that she now understood why people always got light bulbs over their heads in cartoons.

"Thatcher," she said, "we're going for a walk." Thatcher looked at her quizzically, tilting his head to the side.

"You're going to sniff them out so we can follow them," she explained. Thatcher barked enthusiastically and jumped to his feet.

"Shhh! Do you want Mrs. Hudson to realize what we're up to? Sherlock told her not to let us out of the flat!"

Maria got off the bed and left the bedroom with Thatcher padding along behind her. They snuck past Mrs. Hudson, down the stairs, and out the door. Once they were out on the pavement Maria turned to her trusty companion.

"Can you smell 'em?" Maria asked. Thatcher let out a short bark and took off down the street with Maria tailing him. Left and right, zig-zagging through London they went, stopping occasionally so Thatcher could sniff the air.

Finally they saw them. Sherlock was talking to a homeless person on a bench.

"You know, I didn't really think this through," Maria told Thatcher. "How are we going to join them and help without him seeing us and getting angry?" Over the years Maria had gotten very good at reading Thatcher's facial expressions no matter what form he took and right now he was giving her the don't-look-at-me-this-was-your-stupid-plan look.

"Looking for me?" A deep, seductive voice said behind her, making her jump. She turned around to find Sherlock towering over her.

"Um, hi," Maria replied. "Fancy meeting you here. Thatcher and I were just going for a walk."

"I told you to stay in the flat. Or does your safety and the safety of your entire dimension mean nothing to you?"

"I just wanted to help," Maria said defiantly.

"The risks involved with you leaving the flat far outweigh the benefits of you coming out to help on this particular task. Now come along; we're going back to the flat," Sherlock ordered as he turned his back on her and began to walk away.

Maria let out an indignant huff and opened her mouth to give Sherlock a piece of her mind, but before she could, he cut her off.

"Before you protest, you should know that John and I have already finished and were planning on heading back to the flat anyway," he said, his back still facing her as he walked towards John, who was hailing a taxi. Maria stormed past him and slid into the taxi, Thatcher jumping in after and somehow managing to climb into her lap. After John and Sherlock got in it was a tight fit, but they were able to manage it for the short ride back to Baker Street.


	4. Chapter 4: The Plot Thickens

Chapter 4: The Plot Thickens

Back in the flat Sherlock was planning their next move.

"As soon as we find him we'll call Lestrade to make an arrest," he said, speaking really quickly, almost to himself. "Even if he just stays in a holding cell for a night that will still give us time to get you safely into another dimension without him following."

"It would be better if we could find another dimension hopper," Maria pointed out. "Because finding Jartho isn't enough. I'll just continue to be on the run. Jartho isn't even the real problem, Kaibar is. Jartho is just his second in command. And I can't stop either of them until I find someone to help me. There are other rebels out there and once I find some of them, I can fix this. I can go home."

"Unfortunately the others of your kind will be harder to find since we don't know what they look like and we don't even know if they're in this dimension."

"I know," Maria sighed. "I'm just tired of all the running and hiding."

"Sherlock, Lestrade is here," Mrs. Hudson announced as she walked into the room with Lestrade behind her. But there was someone else behind Lestrade.

It was Jartho.

"Who's this?" Sherlock asked.

"Jared Farthing," Lestrade answered. "He's new. Just hired him today."

"Sherlock," Maria stammered nervously. He looked over at her scared face and she could see that he knew.

"Farthing could you give us a moment?" Sherlock asked politely. Reluctantly, Jartho stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him.

"What is it Sherlock?" Lestrade asked.

"That man is dangerous."

"Who? Farthing? Dangerous how? You know him?"

"This is the first time I've seen him," Sherlock admitted. "But trust me. He's extremely dangerous."

"You're going to have to give me more information, Sherlock."

"This is my client, Maria," Sherlock explained. "She hired me to find Farthing, whose real name is Jartho, because he is after her. He is a dangerous man who wants to harm her."

"It's true," Maria chimed in. "I've been running from him for a long time."

"Alright well I'll place him under arrest, but you better get some proof if we're going to prosecute him," Lestrade said as he turned to open the door.

But there was no one there.

"He's gone," John gasped.

"Yes, thank you John," said Sherlock. "We'll have to go and find him. We were only talking for a minute or two; he can't have gone far."

They all rushed out of the flat and frantically looked around to see if they could figure out where he went.

A woman's scream filled the air.

They all rushed around the corner and down an alley where they found a frantic woman standing over a dead body. The man's neck was broken and he was in his under clothes. The clothes Jartho had been wearing were lying next to the body.

"What happened?" Sherlock demanded.

"I turned the corner and saw the body," the woman sobbed. "A man in a black coat was running away in that direction. I screamed and then that's when you lot showed up."

Sherlock squatted next to the body to inspect it.

"This man was wearing a hat and boots before they were taken. Obviously Jartho killed him and took his clothes so it would be harder for us to find him.

"How do you know he was wearing a hat and boots?" Maria asked.

"Look at the way his hair is flattened and the markings on his legs from where his boots chafed him. It's quite obvious," he told her. "Now come on. We all know what he looks like and now we know what he's wearing: a hat, a black coat, and a pair of boots."

They all started running in the direction the woman had indicated and found themselves on a busy street.

"He could be anywhere!" Maria complained.

"There!" shouted Sherlock. He ran forward, grabbed a man by the shoulders and turned him around. Although the man was wearing a hat, black coat, and boots, he was not Jartho.

"Sorry," Sherlock muttered as he let the man go and continued to search the crowd. They all searched frantically grabbing any man that even kind of matched Jartho's description. Finally, Maria saw him.

"There!" she shouted, pointing to a man that was trying to look casual as he walked away from them down the street. As soon as he heard her shout he started to run and they all ran after him. Thatcher was the fastest, so he bounded past them and tackled Jartho. Maria was quick to catch up, but the others were still several yards behind because they hadn't been as close when she spotted him.

"Now I have you!" Jartho shouted as he quickly pushed Thatcher off him and grabbed Maria by her shirt collar. He pulled out his dimension hopper and began to set it for Dalcina.

"No!" Maria cried as she tried to pull the dimension hopper away from him, screwing up all the settings. Meanwhile Thatcher was pulling on Jartho's leg and growling loudly, trying to get him to let go of Maria.

Sherlock, John, and Lestrade had almost reached them when somehow the knob got turned in the struggle. Maria, Jartho, and Thatcher disappeared before their eyes.

The next adventure Maria goes on will be in the Supernatural dimension, so it can be found in that category.


End file.
